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Granite Status

Dan Tuohy's Granite Status: Manning Announces State Senate Run

By DAN TUOHYNew Hampshire Union Leader

Maureen Raiche Manning announced Aug. 13 that she is running for the Democratic nomination for state Senate in District 16, which represents Bow, Candia, Dunbarton, Hooksett, and Manchester wards 1, 2, and 12.

The Manchester attorney said last week she was seriously considering a write-in campaign after several area Democrats urged her to run.

In a statement Wednesday, Manning said:

"I have truly been humbled by the outpouring of support of citizens across the District 16 communities urging me to run for the State Senate. I am running for the State Senate to work across party lines to keep New Hampshire’s economy moving forward, fight tirelessly to expand opportunity for middle class families, and solve problems by bringing people together."

State Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, is facing a Republican primary challenge from Jane Cormier of Hooksett.

The state primary is Sept. 9.

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(A "Status Update" on Aug. 12 follows here:)

U.S. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN will be Scott Brown's special guest when the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire holds a "town hall" meeting focusing on foreign policy Aug. 18 in Derry.

McCain, R-Arizona, will join Brown at his "New Hampshire Speaks" event scheduled to take place at Pinkerton Academy, according to Brown's campaign. Brown continues his town hall-style meetings Tuesday, with an event focusing on the Affordable Care Act to be held at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua.

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DEMOCRATS VYING FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL District 5 have picked up some notable union endorsements. The Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire have endorsed Nashua Alderman Diane Sheehan, who is running against former state Rep. Jennifer Daler of Temple for the Democratic nomination Sept. 9. Daler won the backing last month of the State Employees' Association of New Hampshire/SEIU Local 1984. Steve Hattamer of Hollis and Dave Wheeler of Milford are running for the Republican nomination. And Tom Stawasz, a former Republican state senator from Hollis, is running as an independent and trying to get enough signatures to get on the general election ballot.

District 5 is an open seat this fall. Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli, D-Nashua, is not running for re-election. The district represents Nashua and 32 towns, including Merrimack, New Boston and Peterborough.

(A column update from Aug. 8 follows below:)

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BOB SMITH promises to work to repeal the Patriot Act if he wins the U.S. Senate race.

The former U.S. senator says that post 9/11 terrorism threats prompted him to support the Patriot Act in 2001. Smith, who is one of 10 candidates running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, says he regrets the vote. He said the federal government exploited the act and spied on innocent Americans. "Had I known in October, 2001 about the dark intentions of some in government to abuse the law I would not have hesitated to vote against the Patriot Act," Smith said in a release. "Regret for the Patriot Act has led me to closely follow efforts to reform and repeal its status."

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BITCOIN contributions accepted: Liberty activists Aaron Day and Matt Phillips announced they have launched Stark360, a political action committee dedicated to electing the first millennial governor (in Republican Andrew Hemingway), working toward a "pro-liberty majority" in the New Hampshire Legislature and positioning the state to elect a Liberty Republican candidate in the 2016 first-in-the-nation presidential primary. According to Day and Phillips, the PAC "is accepting unlimited contributions. In addition to accepting cash, Stark360 will also accept contributions in Bitcoin - a new decentralized, digital form of currency free of external government interference."

In an interview, Day said the Stark360 PAC has already accepted some Bitcoin donations.

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GRANITE State Forward, a coordinated campaign by state Democrats, will be out across the state this weekend. The door-to-door canvassing will include sweeps through Portsmouth and Moultonborough. Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, wrote in a memo to "interested parties" at the 100-day countdown to the General Election that the fight for "ground advantage" is about supporting candidates up and down the ballot.

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TEXAS Gov. Rick Perry, when he returns to New Hampshire in two weeks, will be the keynote speaker of an event focusing on the state's business tax climate. The potential 2016 presidential candidate is scheduled to attend the Americans for Prosperity-NH event Aug. 22 at The Yard restaurant in Manchester. The conservative group plans to release a study it says shows New Hampshire's business tax rate being among the worst in the country.

(The Aug. 7 column is below)

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The Attorney General’s Office is investigating a complaint of caller ID “spoofing,” in which fake calls using state Sen. David Boutin’s phone number were made to people in his district.

Boutin, a Republican from Hooksett, said he started fielding complaints Tuesday night about bogus calls purporting to be representing and paid for by his campaign. A few calls were made to people after 9 p.m., and Boutin says he heard from some angry constituents.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Labonte said he can only confirm that an investigation had commenced.

Boutin said the intent was clear: The person or parties orchestrating the calls did so to try to get voters angry with him.

“You have to call it what it is: a vile, dirty political trick,” he said in an interview.

In most cases, the phone would ring and it would show Boutin’s number on the caller ID, and the caller would hang up, according to Boutin. He said in some instances the person making the fake call would identify herself as his wife and say she’s calling on behalf of the senator.

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THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS: Republican gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Hemingway will celebrate the Second Amendment with “Hemingway 2-A Day” on Aug. 16 at the Londonderry Fish & Game Club. It’s also a campaign fundraiser, including $20 for a chance to win a raffle for a custom-made AR-15, among other goods. Attendees are welcome to participate in target competitions, trap and skeet shooting, a machine gun shoot, among other events, according to the campaign.

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STUMP SPEECH: U.S. Senate candidates will truly be on the stump Saturday, Aug. 9, for the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation and New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association’s candidates forum and picnic at Carter Hill Orchard in Concord. There’s a real tree stump upon which candidates deliver their platforms for maintaining and enhancing the farm and forest industries. The speeches commence at 5:45 p.m. Confirmed attendees include Scott Brown, Jim Rubens and Bob Smith, according to the Farm Bureau.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who owns a vacation home on Lake Winnipesaukee, has endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein. Romney said Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, was too busy thinking about running for U.S. Senate in 2016 to “focus on the job at hand: fixing New Hampshire’s economic stagnation.”

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CONTOURS OF THE RACE: Jay Ruais, campaign manager for Frank Guinta, issued a memo this week to trace what he calls the contours of the race for the First Congressional District. In his email blast, Ruais called Democratic incumbent Carol Shea-Porter, “Inaccessible, ineffective and indifferent.”

Other Republicans looking to knock off Democratic incumbents had similar messages this week.

Shea-Porter’s campaign notes that she has hosted many town hall-style meetings over the past year and would participate in a number of open candidate forums after the GOP primary with the Republican nominee.Colin Reed, campaign manager for Scott Brown, said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, “adopted a Washington-centric Rose Garden strategy,” in place of the more traditional retail events in New Hampshire.

Shaheen’s campaign said she has met over the years with thousands of people in every corner of the state, including at “open town halls and roundtables.”

“As Massachusetts’ U.S. senator, Brown never held a single public town hall with voters, including during his losing​ 2012 campaign for reelection,” said Mike Vlacich, Shaheen campaign manager. “And in the few months since Scott Brown moved to New Hampshire, he has devoted his energy and time to running a negative campaign of misleading attacks, refused to explain his opposition to expanding Medicaid and increasing the minimum wage, and even hid in the bathroom to avoid talking about his opposition to health insurance for basic health services for women.”

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MORE DEBATES on tap: The Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University, NHPTV and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript will co-sponsor three debates this month. The first on Tusday, Aug. 12, features three Republican candidates for governor: Walt Havenstein, Andrew Hemingway and Jonathan Smolin. The second debate Aug. 19 will feature Second Congressional District candidates for the Republican nomination: Marilinda Garcia, Gary Lambert and Jim Lawrence. The third debate Aug. 21 is for Republican candidates Robert D’Arcy, Mark Farnham, Bob Hegmann and Walt Kelly.

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TO THE AIR: U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-NH, touts support for small businesses in her first television ad of her reelection campaign in the Second District. Keegan Rice, general manager of the Woodstock Inn and Brewery, stars in the ad and says Kuster is working to cut taxes for businesses like his brewery. Kuster co-sponsored the Small BREW Act last year to support smaller breweries.

Gov. Hassan, a Democrat, has released the first television ad of her re-election campaign. It cites bipartisan legislation designed to fund road and bridge improvements, including the expansion of Interstate 93 south of Manchester.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, has a new television ad out that focuses on legislation that has language that she and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, introduced legislation to allow New Hampshire veterans to receive medical care from facilities outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs if they live more than 20 miles from the nearest full-service VA hospital.

Republican Jim Rubens has a radio ad this week that promises to end career politics. In it, he says, “I’m Jim Rubens, candidate for U.S. Senate, and I approve this message because unlike the other candidates, I didn’t move here a few months ago to run. I’ve lived and worked in New Hampshire for 40 years.”

Now, who could he be talking about?

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Dan Tuohy is covering politics and government for the Union Leader and Sunday News. Email news and information to dtuohy@unionleader.com.